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Urrr STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY o. JOHNSON AND JULIUS KOZISEK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN- Ons OF ONE-HALF ro CHARLES O. BAXTER, on ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

METHOD OF FINISHING PICTURE-FRAMES .QSPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,556, dated October 6, 1885.

Application filed January 13, 1885. Serial No. 152,795. (No specimens.)

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that we, HENRY G. JOHNSON and JULIUS KOZISEK, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Finishing Moldings, Picture-Frames, &c., of which the following is a full description.

Our improvement relates to moldings, picture-frames, 870., which are provided with raised ornamental designs. Heretofore it has been common to cover such moldings and other articles with metal leaf and apply thereto a protecting coat of transparent varnish or lacquer. It has also been common to bronze such moldings and then burnish certain parts to make them bright, leaving the remainder of a different color. The production of this ornamental effect by burnishing requires considerable labor, and the process is not well adapted to be used where there are fine lines in the figures or ornamental work.

The object of our invention is to provide an improved method of finishing moldings and other articles having raised ornamental designs upon them in imitation of various metalssuch as brass, copper, silver, steel, gold, or alloys, or amalgamsso that the ground will appear brown, or dark, rusty, tarnished, or corroded, while the raised portions will present one or more metallic colors upon the same piece of work.

To carry our invention into effect, we first apply leaf metal to the molding or other article, as usual in gilding, and coat the same with thin transparent varnish or lacquer and allow the same to dry. WVc then coat or ground the surface of the molding or other article with a mixture of a dark color, the shade of which may vary, as desired, for different pieces of work, for the purpose of giving an antique appearance. e then remove such dark coating from the raised portions, leaving them of the color of the metal leaf which had been first applied, and when dry apply a protecting varnish or finishing-coat. Such dark coating can be removed by wiping it off from the raised parts with a cloth, or in any othersimilar suitable manner. If the molding or other article be left at this stage of the pro cess, the ground will present a dark antique or tarnished appearance, while the raised p0r-- tions from which the dark coating has been removed will be of a uniform bright color, the same as the metal leaf which had been first applied, and this effect is produced with very little labor.

We carry the process a step further in many cases, which consists in coloring some of the raised portions inimitation of dilferent metals,

which can be done by applying a colored varnish or lacquer with a brush, or in any other suitable manner.

To produce the most pleasing effects, we

use for covering the molding or other article in the first stage of the process a white-metal leaf of the color of silver, tin, or of some composition of metals of whitish color, and apply a finish, as before, and when dry apply a dark coating and then remove the dark coating from the raised portions and then apply a finishing-coat, as before described.

When the dark coating has been removed from the raised portions, they will present a bright whitish appearance. leaf is better adapted to receive coloring to represent different metais than a leaf of a dark color. We therefore leave some portions of this whitish raised surface uncolored and color This white-metal 7 other portions in imitation of metals of difso tarnished appearance, and the raised portions 8 5 present, some of them, a bright whitish metallic appearance, and other portions have the color of some other metal or metals. Of course a single color can be applied to the raised parts.

One way to prepare the dark coating is to mix materials which will form the desired color with turpentine and a little varnish or japan; but we do not limit ourselves to any special mixture for this purpose. coating can be applied with a brush or in some other manner.

The effect can be varied by partially remov- The colored ing the dark coloring from some portionsof the ground; but this is merely a matter of detail.

We are thus able to produce in a comparatively cheap and economical manner effects which are desirable, but which heretofore have only been produced with much labor and expense.

It is not absolutely necessary to apply a finishing-coat to the metal leaf before applying the dark mixture, but it is better to do so.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process of finishing moldings, picture-frames, and other articles having raisedornamental designs thereon, which consists in applying to the molding or other article metal leaf, asii s'ual in gilding, then applying to the surface ad'ark-colored mixture, and then wiping or'cleaning off the colored coating from the raised parts, leaving a dark antique ground and raised portions having some metallic color, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The process of finishing moldings, picture-frames, and other articles having raised ornamental designs thereon, which consistsin applying to the molding or other article metal leaf, as usual in gilding, then applying to the surface a dark-colored mixture, and then wiping or cleaning off the colored coating from the raised parts, then coloring all or portions of the raised parts in imitation of one or more metals, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

HENRY O. JOHNSON. JULIUS KOZISEK. Witnesses:

E. A. WEST, H. T. J ONES. 

